Saudi Arabia imposes curfew to combat Covid

RIYADH, March 23, 2020

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has issued a Royal Order enforcing a curfew in the kingdom from 7 pm until 6 am for a period of 21 days from today (March 23) to limit the spread of the novel Coronavirus, a Saudi Press Agency report said.

King Salman's order followed an announcement by the Health Ministry of 119 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, raising the total number in the Kingdom to 511.

The order is in line with the King's great care for the health and safety of citizens and expatriates, said a Saudi Press Agency report.

The order also asked the Ministry of Interior to take the necessary measures to implement the curfew, and asked all civil and military authorities to cooperate fully with the Ministry of Interior in this regard.

Exempt from the curfew are employees of the vital areas of the public and private sectors and that includes employees of the security, military and media sectors, and workers in the sensitive health and service sectors, for which a detailed statement will be issued by the Ministry of Interior.

The royal order urged citizens to stay in their homes during the coming period, especially the period of curfew, and not to leave except in cases of extreme necessity.

The vital activities that are excluded from the curfew are:

- The food sector (points of sale), such as catering, supermarkets, vegetable, poultry, and meat shops, bakeries, and food factories.

- The health sector, such as pharmacies and relevant sectors like medical clinics, hospitals, laboratories, factories of medical devices and materials.